New Hair Cuts

The girls got their hair cut the other day. They've gotten into this blogging thing and wanted me to put a picture of them up on our blog.

The "Great and Terrible Day" is Here!

The last few months have been a little high stress at our house as Joe has been preparing for the bar. The last two weeks have been particularly brutal. After he finished his bar prep class he set up a desk in our room and has followed a strict schedule that has gone something like:

Wake up - study until lunch
Eat lunch
Study until dinner
Eat dinner
Study until bed

We haven't seen much of him except for a glimpse here and there through the crack of the door he's locked himself behind.


However, it's all going to be over this week!
Joe left for Roanoke, VA this morning to take the Virginia Bar Exam! He takes the test tomorrow and Wed. He won't know the results until mid-October. But I'm positive he'll hit it out of the park. He has worked so hard all through Law School and in preparation for this test. I am amazed at the discipline and dedication he has shone through this whole process.
For those of you who read this in the next few days make sure you keep Joe in your prayers.

I am so proud of you Sweetie! Good Luck!

6 months Old

Dallin is 6 mo. old today! I can't believe it! Time flies.
Johnson and Johnson used to have a commercial where there was a mom giving her baby boy a bath in the sink and the narration went something like..."Who would have thought that someone short, chubby and bald would be the love of my life?" That is exactly the way I feel about this little man. Next to his dad I can't think of a boy I love more and I don't know anyone more handsome. (Maybe that's because he looks just like his dad:)
So I took him in for his 6 mo. check up and he's 95% for height and 75% for weight. He now weighs in at 18lbs. 14oz!
He sits up all by himself. And loves to reach out and grab toys, his sister's hair, and my dinner plate whenever he can. He rolls over from back to tummy and tummy to back and even has started scooting around on his tummy a little bit. He likes splashing in the tub and he loves to lay on his back and suck on his toes. He's discovered how to make all kinds of cool noises with his voice, and all though he has a very deep voice like his dad, he has figured out how to squeal really loudly when he feel like he's being ignored.
But of course my new favorite thing he does is now he reaches out for me whenever I walk into the room. And with that cute little dimpled smile it's just too hard to resist. Not to mention he gives the best kisses ever!

One of "Those" Weeks

Last week was one of those weeks when it seemed like everything about our day to day schedule seemed a little bit harder than usual. Like I said.... one of "those" weeks.
It all started when Emily was up all Wednesday night with the croup and spent Thursday and Friday coughing and burning up with fever. (And of course because she wasn't feeling well insisted on being held all day every day.) By Sunday things seemed to be a little better. However she still had a runny nose so we made the decision to keep her home so she hopefully wouldn't spread any germs to the other kids in nursery. Little did I know that all the kids would be staying home from church that day. As I was doing Becky and Julianne's hair for church I found head lice!!! YUCK!!!!!!! So I ran to the store and picked up some stuff to treat it before Joe left for church. Now if you have ever dealt with lice you know what the next few days were like for me. If not, I'll tell you!
I had to strip down ALL the beds and wash everything in hot water. I had to wash all the girls toys. Wash all of everyones clothes, and all the blankets, rugs and towels in the house. Vacuum the couch and the floor, and put anything that couldn't be washed into air tight bags. If you add it up it's like 30 loads of laundry in a two day period. Not to mention the stinky solution I had to put on the girls hair and then the painful process of pulling all the bugs and eggs out of the girls hair. You would think that after doing all of the we would be done right? Nope! Tuesday morning I found more bugs and we had to go through the whole process again!
I haven't mentioned yet that during this whole fiasco Emily and Dallin were not doing so well either.
Emily went straight from cold and croup symptoms to the stomach flu and threw up all Sunday night and Monday (which didn't help with the laundry situation). And Dallin woke up Monday with a fever and cough and was sick until Thursday.
At one point during the week when I was up to my ears in laundry, holding 2 crying, sick little kids, and trying to dodge complaints of boredom from the older girls because they couldn't go anywhere or play with anyone until the lice was gone I thought, "I'm not cut out for this job!!!"

I remember my mom saying that just as she would get a little frustrated with the mundane of everyday life...some one would get sick, the car would break down, or something else would happen to throw everything upside down. And she would remember to count her blessings.

So now that we're through all of this and I feel like my head is back above water, I've repented for all the negative "murmuring" I did all week about my job, and I decided to list a few of my favorite things about being a mom.

1. I love stealing kisses from a nursing baby just before they eat.
2. I love that my kids think that I'm the smart one. (My brilliant husband has two degrees and is one of the smartest people I know, but when he tells the kids something they always look at me and ask, "Is that true Mom?")
3. I love having an excuse to watch Disney movies.
4. I love scooping up a baby from the bath in a big fluffy towel and rocking them to sleep.
5. I love being my kids #1 fan.
6. I love have the excuse to dress up and have tea parties.
7. I love being the first one to see first steps, hear first words, and hear about what happened during their day at school.
8. I love watching my kids love each other.
9. I love how being a mother has made me appreciate my own mother so much more.
10. I love how being a mother has taught me so much about how much Heavenly Father loves us.

These are only a few things, obviously there are more, but it's things like this that help me remember why I became a mom in the first place. And of course, it's a big help when it comes to getting through one of "those" weeks.

Happy Fourth of July!

It's been a crazy couple of weeks. I meant to post this a while ago but I guess better late than never right?

We had a fun fourth of July. We went over to Uncle Tony and Aunt Sue's house. Uncle Steve, Aunt Kathy and their family came down from Maryland, and we had great day of eating good food, (including Aunt Kathy's famous home made ice cream, Yum!) and hangin' out with cousins.




































We got soaked in a rain storm watching the Manassas City fire works, so half way through the show we sprinted to our cars, drove home and waited out the rain. Then put on our own fire works "Grand Finale" in Tony and Sue's driveway. The kids had a great time playing with sparklers and watching Daddy almost singe his eyebrow's off trying to light all the fireworks at once!

Serenade from Emmy ...